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December 24, 2003 |
"Christmas Eve" |
Pastor Brian Shimer
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"Surprised by Joy"
Luke 2: 1-20
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"sinner." "reject." Sir, may I sell you this lamb?"
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"hah! Buy a lamb from a shepherd? People would consider it stolen!"
"A Dog!"
So, I am called. You see I am a member of the dregs of society.
There was a time when being a Shepherd was an honorable task.
All our Fathers were shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs!
But then after our sojourn in Egypt, where shepherds were despised, no longer was it a respected place of service in Israel.
Remember that later David the Shepherd boy became King? Well, for a time, the idea of being a shepherd was accepted.
But that passed.
What a question it has raised for our rabbis that God himself was called by that Shepherd King: "My Shepherd!" You have read the writings from David, haven't you? "The Lord is My Shepherd," he wrote. "I shall not be in want…"
How could God Almighty be compared to a shepherd, they wondered?
Yet, God has contrasted himself to the leaders of Israel in the scroll of Ezekiel. There he says they are wicked shepherds who are destroying the people, and God said of Himself, "I am the Good Shepherd."
God spoke: "I will seek out the sheep! I will gather them! I will feed them in good pasture! I will bind up the broken and strengthen the sick!"
After that, you think the people would get it! Oh no, us Shepherds are viewed with reproach by the people.
| | II. |
And for a long time I believed them. Yes, I did.
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That is until the night God surprised me.
This was long ago now, when I was a boy. Shepherds are always the youngest in the family. I was just 11. Two of my friends, Joshua and Michael were 12 and 14, while my friend Daniel was just 9. There we were living out in the hills away from our families watching the flocks of sheep.
It got lonely out in the hills. We would sit together while the sheep grazed all around us in the high pasture and talk.
| | III. |
On this particular night, how can I say it, the air was alive.
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It crackled. We were nervous. It was as if perhaps there was some danger around us. We had stood and looked over the sheep. They were not spooked.
Do you know anything about sheep? They spook easily. A ewe can get spooked by just a stone or a branch snapping-- and that caused by her own foot! But even though they were calm, sleeping, grazing, just being, we were scared. The hair stood up on the backs of our necks.
"What's going on tonight?" Joshua asked.
"I dunno!" I said.
I thought about how people were all excited down in Bethlehem. When I was there the previous week, sure there was the hustle and bustle of the crowds arriving for the first census taken of the entire Roman world. But there was something else. People were tense. Mad at Rome, but it was like they were anticipating something.
That's what I felt tonight. Like something was about to happen. But while the air molecules were vibrating, and the sheep were calm, and we were scared, there was nothing to do. We sat down and Daniel started to talk. He talked about his family, his faith that the Messiah would come, and his hope for the people Israel. Then he said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" and we all knew David's psalm and began to recite it together. Each of us was at a different verse as we said it, and individually pondering God's Word to us.
Here we were in the dark, the hair up on the back of our necks saying:
"Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And Forget not all His benefits;
Who forgives… heals… redeems…
And crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies."
It helped to think about God.
As Shepherds, even though despised by many, we still had faith.
We believed that God was God and we were His people.
We believed that God would fulfill all his promises.
We believed that the big leaders in Jerusalem missed much of what God intended. To us, even as young boys, far off in the field, they seemed too
involved with Rome. They seemed to like their power. They seemed to like
the wealth they enjoyed. And they were too patronizing of Herod. And who could like Herod!
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Then the sky ripped open. Have you ever thought about the sky
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like a curtain that hides the glories of heaven? Well that is how it appeared that night. It ripped open.
And an Angel stepped in. And although we still were in that pasture, in the hills above Bethlehem, we were also standing in heaven. The darkness had fled, the air was filled with joy, the grass was silver and gold, glittering beneath our feet, and we had a reason for fear!
We couldn't speak. Daniel, who had been talking nonstop, just croaked.
I realized we were on our faces on the ground.
Then this Being, this two story building before us, spoke. "Do not be afraid," He commanded and the fear left. It was like we had awakened from a nightmare. The dread was gone. We looked up. "For behold," he said, "I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people."
Joy. We felt the joy. We were surprised for a moment before we had felt that sense of something coming that was big, the hair standing up on the backs of our necks, the air vibrating and now that which was anticipated had arrived. Yep there was joy flowing into our bodies!
An angel was bringing us a message for all people? God was sending us some Word that we were to take to everyone? What about us being the least, the worst, the dregs, the bottom rung of society? What about the big shots in Jerusalem? Shouldn't they be the ones to get this news and tell?
But no angel was coming to them. Instead, God had sent this angel to us!
We stood, surprised by joy, hugging each other before the angel.
"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
The Messiah! God was telling us about His Messiah FIRST! Could it be?
God was entrusting such news to us? The simplest? The least?
That was when it hit me. Yes, God was sending such a message to us because God did not view us the way people did. God viewed us as His very own possession. God viewed us as rightly modeling his own posture toward his people. God saw people like we saw sheep - harassed, needing a shepherd, needing a savior. And we were shepherds of sheep like God was the shepherd of people.
| | IV. |
Wow. Everyone who thought less of us was wrong, because God was right.
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We were God's servants on the hills and the message from the angel confirmed this. God expected us to do two things. First, God wanted us to see this great advent in Bethlehem. And second, God wanted us to tell others.
As soon as the angel finished, he disappeared and the sky exploded into song with ten thousand times ten thousand angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace toward men of good will!"
And as suddenly as they had appeared they were gone. We were in that dark night, on grass, alone with the sheep, who were calm the whole time. But the sky now vibrated with the joy.
"Come on!" Daniel said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us!"
I hesitated to leave the sheep, but when I glanced back that curtain parted for an instant and I saw angels arm in arm surrounding the flock like a fence and I knew the sheep would be safe.
We ran. We worshipped at the manger. We praised God. And we told everyone throughout Bethlehem what the Lord had said and how we had been surprised and transformed by joy.
Yes I am a shepherd, as is my son, as are my grandchildren, but that means I have the same occupation as Almighty God.
And if I a shepherd, considered the least in society was told of this great news, I think God intends it also for you.
If you have a sense of worthlessness too, because of the words of others - get surprised by the God who spoke to Shepherds!
If you lack purpose in the dark places in your life, come to God. Get surprised by His joy over you, for you, and find purpose not only in your daily routine but in the great message he has given you about the savior!
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